Supreme Court to Hear Argument on Warrantless Cell Phone Searches

NEW YORK – On Tuesday, the Supreme Court will hear oral argument in a pair of cases raising the question of whether police may search a suspect’s cell phone without a warrant when a person is arrested.

Steven R. Shapiro, legal director of the American Civil Liberties Union, had this comment:

“The search of a cell phone today can reveal as much about ourselves as the search of a home. The police generally need a warrant before they search our homes and they should need a warrant before they search our phones. Those rules do not change merely because someone has been arrested. A person who has been arrested can be searched for weapons or to prevent the destruction of evidence, but allowing the police to rummage through the contents of a cell phone without a warrant serves neither goal.”